Alcoholics Anonymous and My Agenda for 2010
Alcoholics Anonymous and My Agenda for 2010
By Dick B.
© 2009 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Alcoholics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous history have been a primary focus of my life for the past 20 years of my rapidly-approaching 24th year of continuous sobriety. And it is appropriate once again to set forth the agenda for 2010 as it has evolved during my years as an active, recovered member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous; and as a writer, a historian, a Bible student, a retired attorney, and a newly-certified CDAAC.
Here are some starting points to show where I am coming from today as I welcome the challenge of the year 2010. I am 84 years of age. I have been continuously free of alcohol and prescription pill addiction since April 21, 1986. I joined the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship on April 23, 1986. I was then a very sick man with endless wreckage of the past caused by my own self-destructive behavior. I paid my dues during early sobriety by suffering three grand-mal seizures in my first week of sobriety; by spending about a month in an Intensive Care Unit, a detox, and an in-patient treatment program; by resigning as an attorney; by focusing on amends; by checking into a VA psych ward for two months; and finally by spending 33 days incarcerated, first in a state correctional medical facility and then in a county jail. Yet, from the very first, and through it all, I was actively participating in A.A.; studying its Big Book; learning how to take and practice the Twelve Steps; sponsoring others in recovery; and keeping my eye on what God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible could teach me, and how I could serve to the glory of my Creator.
"Christians are not alone in the recovery arena"
At about three years of sobriety, I stumbled upon a fact I had never heard in the hundreds and hundreds of A.A. meetings and conferences I had attended. A.A. had come from the Bible! A young man named John told me this. He suggested I read A.A.'s DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, which I did. John died of alcoholism, but I hit the trail-traveling, visiting, interviewing, collecting, reading, researching, writing, and reporting-doing things I had done for many of my sober years as an attorney.
For perhaps the first ten years, my agenda was to wrest the facts from a labyrinth of half-truths, distortions, speculations, opinions, unbelief, and outright opposition. And the end of that period was glittering with uncovered facts about the Christian origins of A.A., the real original program the pioneers founded and followed in Akron during the 1930's, and the astonishing successes they achieved by relying on God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible. This all involved the publication of a dozen books and the establishment of a still-existing, widely-visited website, http://www.dickb.com.
But then came a new challenge. From all over the world came phone calls, letters, visits, emails, and comments from those in recovery and usually in 12 Step fellowships who were awash in a sea of "higher powers," nonsense gods, self-made religious ideas, and intolerant rebuke from others of their own Christian beliefs, questions, and pursuits. In other words, they had begun to learn that the first three AAs-Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob Smith, and Bill Dotson-were all Christians and had all three turned to God for deliverance and received it. They had begun to learn that the original Akron A.A. Christian fellowship had no Big Book, no Steps, no Traditions, no drunkalogs, and a mere one meeting a week that was called a "clandestine lodge of the Oxford Group." AAs had once again begun to seek and find what the early A.A. program was really like. They had begun to study the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. They had begun to form Big Book-Bible study groups as part of their A.A. and N.A. recovery. They had prayed together, prayed for each other, and sought God's guidance in the affairs of their lives. They had begun to learn that early AAs-especially in Akron where A.A. was founded--were required to believe in God and come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. They had seen Dr. Bob's statements that the pioneers believed that the solution to all of their problems could be found in the Bible (which they affectionately called the "Good Book").
But these same floundering AAs were meeting with opposition from their churches, their pastors, A.A. officers, and individual A.A. "bleeding deacons." They were puzzled, tempted to leave either their church or their A.A. fellowship or both, and questioning whether or not they were unique and alone.
To make a long story short, my next two dozen books and many articles and talks took a different turn. Instead of merely focusing on A.A. history, they began to focus on widespread dissemination of the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible had played in the recovery scene long before, during the origins of, and in the fellowship and successes of early A.A. And my later efforts began to tell others how to apply this solution to recovery today. And, during the latter part of 2008 and almost all of 2009, we addressed these concerns all over the world. The end of 2009 has found the existence of our new, rapidly-growing International Christian Recovery Coalition and the emergence of participants all over the world who share the agenda set forth below. See http://www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Here, then, is my own agenda, and I hope the agenda of many others, for the forthcoming year:
Dick B.'s lifetime of Bible study, legal scholarship and training, 23 years of continuous sobriety, work with more than 100 sponsees, 19 years of historical research, and 38 published titles.
"Glorifying God by making known the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the astonishing 75% and 93% success rates (overall, and documented in Cleveland, respectively) early A.A. claimed among 'seemingly-hopeless,' 'medically-incurable,' 'last gasp,' 'real' alcoholics who really tried to follow the original recovery program developed by A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob during the summer of 1935."
"And glorifying God by helping Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena substantially improve their effectiveness in reaching those who still suffer--by including accurate information about the original Akron A.A. program, its principles and techniques, and its historical setting into their recovery efforts."
Aloha and God Bless
dickb@dickb.com
Gloria Deo
By Dick B.
© 2009 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Alcoholics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous history have been a primary focus of my life for the past 20 years of my rapidly-approaching 24th year of continuous sobriety. And it is appropriate once again to set forth the agenda for 2010 as it has evolved during my years as an active, recovered member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous; and as a writer, a historian, a Bible student, a retired attorney, and a newly-certified CDAAC.
Here are some starting points to show where I am coming from today as I welcome the challenge of the year 2010. I am 84 years of age. I have been continuously free of alcohol and prescription pill addiction since April 21, 1986. I joined the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship on April 23, 1986. I was then a very sick man with endless wreckage of the past caused by my own self-destructive behavior. I paid my dues during early sobriety by suffering three grand-mal seizures in my first week of sobriety; by spending about a month in an Intensive Care Unit, a detox, and an in-patient treatment program; by resigning as an attorney; by focusing on amends; by checking into a VA psych ward for two months; and finally by spending 33 days incarcerated, first in a state correctional medical facility and then in a county jail. Yet, from the very first, and through it all, I was actively participating in A.A.; studying its Big Book; learning how to take and practice the Twelve Steps; sponsoring others in recovery; and keeping my eye on what God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible could teach me, and how I could serve to the glory of my Creator.
"Christians are not alone in the recovery arena"
At about three years of sobriety, I stumbled upon a fact I had never heard in the hundreds and hundreds of A.A. meetings and conferences I had attended. A.A. had come from the Bible! A young man named John told me this. He suggested I read A.A.'s DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, which I did. John died of alcoholism, but I hit the trail-traveling, visiting, interviewing, collecting, reading, researching, writing, and reporting-doing things I had done for many of my sober years as an attorney.
For perhaps the first ten years, my agenda was to wrest the facts from a labyrinth of half-truths, distortions, speculations, opinions, unbelief, and outright opposition. And the end of that period was glittering with uncovered facts about the Christian origins of A.A., the real original program the pioneers founded and followed in Akron during the 1930's, and the astonishing successes they achieved by relying on God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible. This all involved the publication of a dozen books and the establishment of a still-existing, widely-visited website, http://www.dickb.com.
But then came a new challenge. From all over the world came phone calls, letters, visits, emails, and comments from those in recovery and usually in 12 Step fellowships who were awash in a sea of "higher powers," nonsense gods, self-made religious ideas, and intolerant rebuke from others of their own Christian beliefs, questions, and pursuits. In other words, they had begun to learn that the first three AAs-Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob Smith, and Bill Dotson-were all Christians and had all three turned to God for deliverance and received it. They had begun to learn that the original Akron A.A. Christian fellowship had no Big Book, no Steps, no Traditions, no drunkalogs, and a mere one meeting a week that was called a "clandestine lodge of the Oxford Group." AAs had once again begun to seek and find what the early A.A. program was really like. They had begun to study the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. They had begun to form Big Book-Bible study groups as part of their A.A. and N.A. recovery. They had prayed together, prayed for each other, and sought God's guidance in the affairs of their lives. They had begun to learn that early AAs-especially in Akron where A.A. was founded--were required to believe in God and come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. They had seen Dr. Bob's statements that the pioneers believed that the solution to all of their problems could be found in the Bible (which they affectionately called the "Good Book").
But these same floundering AAs were meeting with opposition from their churches, their pastors, A.A. officers, and individual A.A. "bleeding deacons." They were puzzled, tempted to leave either their church or their A.A. fellowship or both, and questioning whether or not they were unique and alone.
To make a long story short, my next two dozen books and many articles and talks took a different turn. Instead of merely focusing on A.A. history, they began to focus on widespread dissemination of the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible had played in the recovery scene long before, during the origins of, and in the fellowship and successes of early A.A. And my later efforts began to tell others how to apply this solution to recovery today. And, during the latter part of 2008 and almost all of 2009, we addressed these concerns all over the world. The end of 2009 has found the existence of our new, rapidly-growing International Christian Recovery Coalition and the emergence of participants all over the world who share the agenda set forth below. See http://www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Here, then, is my own agenda, and I hope the agenda of many others, for the forthcoming year:
Dick B.'s lifetime of Bible study, legal scholarship and training, 23 years of continuous sobriety, work with more than 100 sponsees, 19 years of historical research, and 38 published titles.
"Glorifying God by making known the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the astonishing 75% and 93% success rates (overall, and documented in Cleveland, respectively) early A.A. claimed among 'seemingly-hopeless,' 'medically-incurable,' 'last gasp,' 'real' alcoholics who really tried to follow the original recovery program developed by A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob during the summer of 1935."
"And glorifying God by helping Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena substantially improve their effectiveness in reaching those who still suffer--by including accurate information about the original Akron A.A. program, its principles and techniques, and its historical setting into their recovery efforts."
Aloha and God Bless
dickb@dickb.com
Gloria Deo
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